Ashlawn Road Development - Second Letter by Bill Lewis

To The Editor. Rugby Advertiser and Rugby Observer
Published on 20th February 2014

Dear Sir,

Recent correspondence in the local press regarding the proposed Ashlawn Road development of 1,000 houses has referred to my position on the matter. Statements have been made that the fields in question have always been earmarked for development. However, what has changed in recent months is the control which the Council is allowed to exert over the timing of such housing developments.

In the past the Borough Council was able to direct potential developers to areas where house building was preferred. Parts of the borough were classified for early development with others for medium and long term. In March 2012 the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) changed the planning system. Councils can now only decide in which order sites are developed if they are themselves fulfilling certain criteria in relation to the availability of house building plots. The NPPF requires that Councils who cannot demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable housing sites should consider all housing applications, wherever they are and assume a presumption in favour of sustainable development. It is important to note that Rugby does not have a five year supply. As a result planning applications for house building cannot be rejected just on the basis that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time or land supply elsewhere has not been exhausted.

In Rugby, a wide strip of land from Cawston in the west almost up to the Water Tower in the east, an area called the South West Broad Location (SWBL), has been earmarked for future house building. Land close to Cawston had originally been identified to be developed first with land such as that close to Hillside Estate not being developed until after 2026. Now however, because the Council cannot demonstrate it has a five year supply of housing sites, planning applications anywhere within the SWBL have to be considered. So it is not just the fields between Norton Leys and Ashlawn Road (where a developer has already indicated that he is going to make an application for up to 1,000 dwellings and a primary school) which are at risk but also other locations especially in the SWBL.

As a resident of Hillside for 36 years, I believe it is up to us all to ensure that we pass on to our young people a truly sustainable community, undamaged by poor decision making and lack of respect for the environment; a community fit to live in. In the coming years over 6,200 houses are to be built on the Radio Station site and 1,300 houses at EdenPark off Leicester Road plus thousands more at smaller sites around the borough. Surely it is right that we question closely the pace of this continued growth when there is inadequate transport infrastructure and community support.

Regards,

Bill Lewis